How has that happened! Can someone tell the weather its now summer please?
How has it been?
I suppose the first part of this post should be about how the market has been so far. Looking back over our figures, having the Euros on at the moment is very apt as the year can very easily be split in to 2 halves (ish).
January-March were busy, we had our busiest January ever. February and March were also up there for good months. April though was when it started to change. Everything was going quite smoothly until Easter and then expectedly it slowed down.
However it has not really picked back up to the levels we would normally see. I think there are a few reasons for that:
The Euros – We always notice a bit of a drop off during the Euros and World Cup, so we were expecting June/July to be quiet. But that obviously does not explain April/May.
Easter – That might be the explanation for May time possibly.
The election – I was not expecting the election to have much of an effect, but it could possibly be playing a bigger part than I thought it might and might explain why the lull is more than expected.
We also have a new guy, Matt! Hes a very nice guy, very enthusiastic and one of the most thorough people I have met! But I think it would be a little harsh to blame any of this on him.
What to expect
This is a tricky one. There are a lot of things in favour and against things picking up.
The election – Now it is behind us and the expected result happened, it might settle a few nerves and the market as a whole. Today alone we have had 3 emails from lenders announcing reductions in interest rates so that seems promising.
The Euros – how far will England go? Hopefully all the way… its coming home! But the longer they go, the quieter I think it will be this year.
Interest rates – in the last week or 2, I have lost count of how many emails I have advising of reducing interest rates. Some are reasonable chunks of up to quarter of a percent. Add in to that the expectation of the base rate dropping later in the year, this should help get the market moving again.
Summary
There are various things for and against a busy second half of the year. I am reluctant to take a guess where it will end as I (and seemingly everyone else) are well off the mark. But where is the fun in that! I think if there is a base rate drop or 2, that will help to keep people in jobs and that in turn will help the market – thats me thinking positive.
This year has been busier than last, but that was not difficult. We are on target for an average year, but if things do not pick up soon it will probably be another below average year – fear not though! We will still be around. Financially we are sound and we intend on being around for a long time to come (hence the addition of Matt earlier this year).
In a nutshell, I think it will be better than last year but we might struggle to get to an average year unless something drastic happens. But we need slow years to appreciate the good ones. It cant be busy every year.